Thank you for an awesome cooking blog! I adore this cake and make it (or one of its differently sized cousins) constantly (and will be making it tomorrow for a bake sale on Friday!) Im also pregnant and wanted chocolate cake so badly last week that I was practically begging anyone who would listen to bring some to me! Thank god for that frosting, because it turned out the ratio and the richness of the frosting balanced with the sturdy, deeply chocolate-y cake that was barely almost a smidge over but not too badly. My baking tome was slightly less, but I always consider baking times rough estimates. Overall, absolutely delightful and delicious and will definitely enter my cake rotation. I went to 6 stores in my neighborhood and couldnt find sprinkles. Just enough cake, not too much, and so simple. and I think the secret is to always push the frosting from the center out, not pull it back. It was delicious. Hi Deb! I added a heaping teaspoon of expresso powderDELICIOUS AND EASY. What did I do wrong? I want to triple this to make a 9 inch 2 layer cake and a dozen cupcakes for a birthday party, but Id like to split up the work. I found you last year, bought the book, and have since made at least a dozen cakes and more. It was a hit. For me, I liked it better that way! The dreamy frosting covers a multitude of floury sins, So I made this yesterday, and it was delicious. That extra 1/2 cup of powdered sugar didnt really hurt the flavor, its still very chocolaty, just not as bitter. It was a little grainy/granular, and I had a really hard time getting it nice and smooth/whipped. Used oil instead of butter (a scant 1/3 cup) and got great results. WTF is wrong with me? I could kick myself for not getting one ages ago. Well, my healthy lunch of last nights leftovers seems utterly unsatisfying now. I like this site; I generally like or want to try the recipes. I made the cake a couple days ago, and served it only yesterday. This will be my go to chocolate cake recipe! Megan 10-inch round or square? dont quit your day job Or do I defrost them all now, decorate and then put in the fridge or freezer? For an Oreo vibe, you can do a full swap with black cocoa or even a half-swap (half regular cocoa) because its so intense, little is needed to Oreo (like, as a verb) a whole cake. Frosting notes: I had super dark baking chocolate and used that instead of unsweetened for the frosting. Except my chocolate cake was a bacon cheeseburger. If you follow the instructions TO THE LETTER and mix in the drys just until everything is wet, you end up with a thin batter with tiny butter/sugar capsules distributed throughout. I baked them for 17 minutes, per the recommendation from another commenter, but they came out just the slightest bit dry. I love that this recipe is for a small-ish cake. Does the baking time need to be adjusted? -cut down the sugar in the frosting to 1 cup, which was more than enough frosting for the people I fed it to, and it tasted very buttery, which is my preference. Baked for 20 minutes. Ive been reading that one shouldnt use Dutch processed cocoa with recipes that contain baking powder or baking soda; apparently recipes with those ingredients use the acidity of natural cocoa to react with and the alkalinity of Dutch process will mess with the product. It just didnt have the depth of flavor I had hoped for. (P.S. It ended up being about 2.5 inches tall, which was the perfect height for a small birthday cake. Then I put the cake in the fridge for 3 hrs until dinner, and when we had it for dessert the frosting had turned it ganache. Beat in the egg, scraping down the sides of the bowl. The cake is dense, rich, and not super sweet and the sugary, buttery icing balances it out beautifully. What a fantastic recipe! LOVE this cake! My husband promised my kids dessert last night, and it was up to me to fulfill this promise. I assume it will be shorter? Made at 9:30 at night and it baked perfectly in 25 min. Delicious cant believe how high mine rose and how moist and rich it was. but nowall shall be right in the world. Hi! The sugar is a bit much so the salt balances the sweetness a bit and enhances the chocolate flavor. to buy both & Ive almost always got the light brown kind around. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9 by 2-inch spring form pan with nonstick spray. Depending on the recipe, you can melt the butter or shortening and mix in the cocoa until smooth, or just add it to the ingredients as is if it works (like in frosting). the 'i want chocolate cake' cake - smitten kitchen Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Beautiful, btw. I know this recipe is going to be fantastic. I think it could be it will definitely be thinner. Nope, way too dry so I added an extra Tablespoon or so of heavy cream. Sorry about that Deb. Thats what I usually have on hand. I will absolutely make this again. The frosting came out awesome. Finish with rainbow sprinkles; dont even fight it. made your chicken with olives and grapes yet again last week so so terribly good! I would have wanted and moaned until I managed to get my husband to remedy it but your solution is way better. Love the photos of this oneI can smell it and taste it! Hi, I plan to give this cake a whirl for an upcoming family birthday for 3 chocoholics. I made it for my moms birthday and everyone was really impressed. A couple of notes from my experience: -my batter was significantly thinner, probably in part because I just used two whole eggs (I used egg whites alone so rarely that its not even worth it to freeze them) and I used a touch more buttermilk than called for (no real reason, just poured out a little too much). I only realized the mistake after another comment about having the recipe add an additional yolk! Hi Deb! This one looks like a keeper for any midnight cake treat. So I never have any luck with Chocolate cake, and I had exceptionally high hopes since Ive made a few of your other cakes, but I actually found this to be fairly dry..we devoured it, and I even made a second one for a party tomorrow but with vegetable oil instead if butter fit the batter. I have never made a vanilla buttercream that I liked, and Im scared to try a meringue-based frosting. I literally said 2 minutes ago I think we will just have leftovers for dinner, but I could really use a chocolate cake Fate brought me and this recipe together! I never would have thought of that combination. He even drove the train around the tracks. Delish no frosting just some a bit of icing sugar. Its very forgiving as well, we are moving (hence stressed-out me really needed cake immediately!) I wasnt sure. and I was almost out of everything I combined some cream and some milk and a bit if apple cider vinegar since I didnt have buttermilk and it worked great! Many of the older cakes and almost all in the last couple years are one-bowl or at least each component is. But I wonder if thats more due to my mixing by hand than to inherent flaws in the recipes. I have one of these babies in the oven right now, perhaps the 6th one in a month. The cupcakes stayed moist and were flipping delicious. And backpulver is baking powder. Wow, just wow. Equal parts using the coffee to thin out the yogurt? Out of buttermilk can I add a bit of vinegar to some slim milk.think I will wait until I get the buttermilk hate to tamper with a great recipe. How would you adapt this frosting for other flavors? I made this cake for Christmas and it was extremely delicious. Surprisingly so. Baking time actually remained about the same for some reason. I have a similar chocolate cake from a post-wartime austerity recipe (only 18g cocoa and a single egg) which assumes 30-35 minutes cooking time. I may have taken it out a bit early, the rise went slightly down. Oh thank God, my own baby 2 was demanding exactly this. Would it be possible to switch the frosting to vanilla? I also didnt have unsweetened chocolate so I used a couple TBS of cocoa powder in the frosting. every mouthful is perfect. My sweet son made it for me, sprinkles and all. I have been refreshing your blog all day ever since you said on instagram last night that youd be posting the recipe today. Deb- Yes! On the third round I added a 1/4 cup additional buttermilk to the batter. Im salivating. I made this today, in response to a request for chocolate cake from hubby. I hope I can get to the bottom of it. Pizzas, red wine and, to finish off the carb load, this chocolate cake. It baked in 20-25 minutes. I MUST HAVE CHOCOLATE CAKE. My son is 7 months old and the craving still pops up now and then. Make sure you use the bake setting, not the broil setting (I did that once when I was a kid!) Thanks. I switched buttermilk for mascarpone (I had the latter in the fridge, but no buttermilk which is surprisingly difficult to get here in the UK). No surprise there though, considering the source! THIS CAKE LOOKS SO YUMMY!!!!!! Im not sure which area I am suppose to add the 1/2 tea of vanilla too. Just wondering if youd any tips on scaling this cake to fit a 15cm tin as used for your Tiny but intense chocolate cake? The frosting recipe I made as is, with the addition of about 3/4 cup of left-over coconut cream I had. And as the cake was baking in the oven, I discovered I did not have any unsweetened chocolate. Ive been dreaming of my late mothers chocolate cake lately (yes, dreaming!) Made this last night and used the sour cream chocolate frosting from your best birthday cake, I was cheap and had a little left over. This is absolutely a keeper. Loving this one. My child decided against buttercream or unicorn sprinkles so we just had it plain tonight (may do a frost-your-own-slice pudding tomorrow as we have guests) and I have to say she liked it way better than a brownie. I made this yesterday and it was delicious! Love your strawberry cake, so I was excited to try this one. Too late. This comment is years late but I made this today and thank you for the easy frosting recipe! I actually had to be super careful plating it to frost. I dont know if anyone else experienced this, but I attempted to process it the 1-2 minutes, and something happened to it. 1. also, i love stout in a cake as an option as well. It was rich but not overwhelming for little mouths and got rave reviews from the grownups too. Thank you for this recipe, I made the cake last night subbing in slightly thinned soya yoghurt for the buttermilk and sunflower spread for the butter as my daughter is lactose intolerant, and it worked beautifully! Deb does it again!!! I also included the pinch of salt in the frosting highly recommend. This was so delicious and easy to tweak to my weird idiosyncratic preferences. (I thought the cake was perfect by itself; kids wanted frosting; I ate cake and frosting separately and was in heaven!) Baking time for cupcakes is less; I usually start checking at 15 minutes. What a treat for a weeknight! Will try a better quality cocoa powder next time tho I used Ghiradelli. Ive kept the sugar about as low as you can get away with and still have a frosting, so if you do try, Id limit it to 1 to 2T less. The frosting was a bit too sweet for my guys (their tastebuds, not mine) so we might go with a ganache next time. Thank you Deb. Im going to stack some to make a birthday cake: Id freeze the cake layer, but not the frosting. I didnt have buttermilk so I mixed one TBS of lemon juice with 3/4 c whole milk. Came out perfect! Would the cake be able to take the weight of the ganache? Thanks DEB!!!! I guess Ill just have to give this cake a go at the next family birthday (which, thankfully, is in barely two weeks). Do let us know how it goes, if you can. recipes? You can make baking powder by using baking soda and an acid (usually, cream of tartar is used) at home. p.s. Despite not having quite the right ingredients (had to use salted butter, 2% milk, and messed up the eggs and did all whole instead of one yolk and one whole) it turned out perfect. I want that cake with peanut butter cream cheese buttercream frostingright now! Pour in chocolate, milk and vanilla, beat until combined, then one more minute to whip it further.] I make my vanilla one in the food processor too. I do so love other grown women who know that the necessity of rainbow sprinkles is a real thing. I will definitely make it again. Frosting in the food processor?!!! I have already made this cake (in almost all of its versions! I also did simple chocolate ganache instead of buttercream frosting. No extra dish, too. It all came together rather quickly on a weekday evening too. It traveled well unbaked in the loaf pan, then brought to room temp and baked the next day, it turned out perfectly. Its moist and rich, but not too sweet I may just have some for breakfast tomorrow! If I wanted to make this into a double layered round cake, would you just double the recipe and do in two 9 inch rounds? Hey Deb, Otherwise, it would be much easier to make them less sweet! Really wanted to like this cake but it was dryfollowed the recipe exactly but I knew right when we cut into it that it was not going to be as amazing as I had hoped. My husbands birthday is this week. (But only share if they offer to do dishes.). Made this cake last night. Youre the best. I only got ten cupcakes. I 1.5xd the frosting for a 913 and was happy with the coverage. (yes, for breakfast!) its very hot here today so unfortunately i had to refrigerate it, much to the detriment of the cake. Yield Serves 8 to 12 Prep time 10 minutes Cook time 25 minutes to 35 minutes Show Nutrition Ingredients 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, natural or Dutch-process 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon Definitely only two ounces chocolate, right? 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. anyway, the cake itself is delicious, tender, and easy. I always have cocoa on hand, but rarely unsweetened chocolate so I always go this route and it works well. I regret to tell you that this cake is nothing exactly new, and its not because Im out of ideas (I hope not, at least! This is a delicious, fast chocolate cake! Such a perfect moist crumb on this cake it must be the buttermilk! (Also a ridiculous amount of red dye and a little fondant because we used a 9 circular pan and made Elmo.). We had one at Tilth up here in Seattle this last weekend- it had buttermilk, browned butter, hazelnuts and currants and I want to eat there everyday just for this one scone! Ive been reading your blog since before he was born and have cooked my way through a lot of what youve written about. I tried to make this cake, but the batter curdled when I added the thinned yogurt Really this is so good! Theyre about the same area (63.6 vs 64 square inches) but will it affect the baking time at all? Less temptation as it sits on my counter! He tested covid +Ve and he is completely asymptomatic. chocolatey without being overwhelmingly rich (and thus, every excuse for a second slice ;-)). And while Im happy to tell you that my interest in most foods (except for chicken, sweet potatoes and soup, they know what they did) has returned, my devotion to these categories hasnt waned in the slightest. I used Herseys special blend cocoa (dutch and natural) and added some instant espresso powder into the milk. And the cardio/working out/yoga that followed. Ill have to give this a try for comparison. The Delicious taste of chocolate ahaha. Is there a good way to search for all your one bowl cakes? Lovely, Deb, thank you. So i basically lived off brownies and muffins for the last few months, but i was fine and so is he! TMI? (The cake is good too, dont get me wrong.) Every time Ivve made it, Ive been invited somewhere, including in the middle of making the frosting for this one! Also the fact that its delicious and practically gone doesnt hurt! Definitely going into the rotation. Too thin. I normally just replace milk with coconut milk/coconut cream in all my baking but tried the wine as dont know if coconut milk has any acid in it and you were saying that was important. I know it tastes quite different. So good! Girl, you are speaking my language. That chocolate cake is everything, the cake just looks so yummy and delicious. Me? What I really want is chocolate on chocolate. In short, this is EXACTLY the cake I need when the chocolate cake craving hits :-). Your site is the first food blog Ive read continuously and made things from. Just made this cake & your perfect birthday cake for a friends 1-year old party. Joy Yes, it gets more moist as the days go on. Forgot to add I only put in 130 grams of sugar because of marmalade. Is the swap 1:1 with buttermilk? I definitely agree about the longer (25-35 min) cooking time, and I actually one bowl-ed the frosting somewhat successfully. The ingredients & method are straightforward. Please maam, may I have another?!!!!! This is a truly great cake!! Same with frosting. It was a hit! The combination of butter, sugar, sugar, cocoa, buttermilk, cream, and sea salt all in quick list read effectively slayed my weak will power. that I might have to exclusively dedicate this space for a while to a few currently acceptable categories, those that involve butter, bread, peanut butter or chocolate. I love that I dont have to go to five different grocery stores to find the ingredients. Amazing. I decided to divide my cake in to two 9 round pans. I want chocolate cake! Sorry so late to respond to this comment; no reason you cannot. Thank you for taking the time to let me know where to find the print and PIN links in the To Do line. someone point me in the right direction! Ive also just made it as square. Quick question: my cocoa is not lumpy at all. deb, i made this frosting again last week (underneath i confess i made the hersheys chocolate cake recipe as boyperson wanted a more box-mix-like cake), and we ended up not being able to eat the cake right away so we stuck it in the fridge. Have visited this page many times, but thinking about making it for the first time for my roommates birthday! I needed a quick chocolate cake, without leaving the house for ingredients. Do you have any adjustments for high altitude? I used a whisk to mix the not really lumpy cocoa. Great texture! I used golden brown sugar and non-Dutch cocoa powder because I had them on hand. This cake was fantastic and was so easy to put together. This is the perfect week-night treat. Weve made it dozens of time as an 88, but Id like to make it as a 913 sheet cake for my daughters birthday. I`ll use a 6 inch pan and wondering how to adjust the baking time. Megan You could halve this in a 6-inch round. Meanwhile, you should make this one; its not very sweet and quite moist. I add the frosting inside the cupcake and on top. He loves chocolate sweets, but Im trying to eat better and curb our snacking especially sweets. Can I use cake flour instead of all-purpose? Perfect timing! I loved this cake. This is the cake that inspired me to comment. Thoughts? (this is my idea of an egg dish, fwiw!) Its a little stressful to work with because its so soft (I always pop the rounds right into the freezer so theyre easier to lift) but it is always a hit. Just so happens I made the everyday chocolate cake in the loaf pan over the weekend for my dads birthday. How can I fix this? I think youll be just fine. You can keep it at room temperature if youd like. G-d!!!!! Planning to make 30 mini cupcakes. And so, my absolutely wonderful husband made it for me! My (Italian) mother also used to say that if a woman craved a certain food during pregnancy the baby might end up having a birthmark in the shape of that food. Was that the culprit?!? The frosting is also wonderful! Sometimes that mixture is too thin, but in this case, it was fine. This was fun to make and eat for my first gathering with a friend post-vaccination. Id use flour or cornstarch instead of cocoa (or half of each) and white instead of brown sugar. Is it true that 1/2 teaspoon sea salt has about 1/2 the sodium of table salt? -made an orange cranberry filling So Im logging this recipe away until after August, and I wont be sharing with the new tiny one AT ALL. OXO Good Grips Large Offset Spatula $10.94 Amazon Buy Now Save to Wish List (This is a 75% volume of that, so it wont fill out a loaf as well. Hi Deb, Dear God. I made this again using dutched cocoa and even a friend who doesnt like chocolate cake (yeah, I know, right?!!) (The taste test tomorrow) simple and easy to follow recipie (im addicted to your Instagram too!). I am quite pleased. Writing to say that the butter is amount is wrong. When you call for 3/4 of packed brown sugar (or 145g), if I am using a scale can I just dump the brown sugar until it reaches 145g? My question with brown butter in baked goods is always the same: can you taste it? If it wasnt 8PM right now I would make this cake. Could I make the frosting a raspberry buttercream by putting in raspberry pure instead of chocolate? Yield: 1 generously frosted 88-inch cake, which we cut into 16 small squares. 1 /2 cup / 63 g all-purpose flour I usually bake for around 21 minutes for the regular cupcakes with this recipe. (Keep 1/4 cup buttermilk so youll have an acidic ingredient to wake up the baking soda.). How can I make this a vanilla version? .And P.S. Making now! Chocolatey. This chocolate buttercream is the best ever. Just made this with two 6-inch rounds (following Debs recent advice!) My boys and I made this tonight. Probably for breakfast. This was DELICIOUS! Place your flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a sifter (I find this step necessary because my cocoa is very lumpy) and shake it over the batter bowl. Thank you so much for sharing!!! If square, 300 to 325%. It came out delicious, rich, and chocolatey in a way that satisfied that chocolate craving even without the frosting (too lazy and couldnt wait for butter to thaw). This is my go-to site for recipes. Recipes. salted butter chocolate chunk shortbread . Ill definitely have to make it again. Thanks for the recipe! I just popped by as many bloggers dont respond to questions. I made this and I just wanted to say that it was so good. Eek! I could swap out the butter for margarine, but wasnt sure what would work to replace the buttermilk. NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A BON APPETIT and EPICURIOUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR The long-awaited new book from the best-selling and beloved author of The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and Smitten Kitchen Every Daya collection of essential recipes for meals you'll want to prepare a. 1 tablespoons cream or whole milk Thanx For Sharing this recipes. Deb, I love you. I kept going, because you cant waste eggs in a pandemic, but a little worried if its safe to eat? Do I need to double the recipe and how long should I bake them for? I was generous with the icing, which brings this cake together. (FWIW, I tend to make oil based cake recipes if Im looking to avoid dry cake at all costs.) The cake looked so good. Score!). Hope you feel better soon! I just wanted to chime in and say this recipe is perfect for 1/2 birthday celebrations. I found your blog through Bloglovin and drew immediately from the Chocolate Cake. Delicious!! Not that I havent eaten what I wanted the whole time, and that want has mostly been chocolate (and frozen mango pieces lately, so good!) I was meaning to ask you about that as I read through the recipe and your note was a very welcome surprise. I made this in two 6 rounds and it was a perfect little layer cake. I dont recommend trying to speed the cooling of the melted chocolate by putting it in the refrigerator though, things can change fast! Is there a cream cheese frosting that you would recommend, to go with this cake? This post could not have been more timely! Delicious! the wet stuff, not dry cake crumbs), its not done. Ive had my eye on this for a long time, and when I caught my 11 year old son watching chocolate cake how-to videos, I knew the time had come. Seriously. I needed a piece of chocolate cake so badly that I began to regret every cupcake shop Id ever walked past and not gone in during the height of the mid-aughts cupcake craze. I had to laugh at your comment about sweet potatoes. I followed it exactly. I wisely made 1/2 batch of frosting which was for me the perfect amount. Think I might have to healthify and recreate! We were sitting around with a bit of wine and a roasted cauliflower tonight, thinking about what to do for the night; we are homebodies, Friday basically is equal to Tuesday in my mind and CAKE!